Fiona Shackleton, 52

"Her hair looked really wet when she came out of the closed courtroom. Nobody asked about it. The reporters, the guys, didn’t care. But she was elegant; she made it look like a hairstyle." — Sketch artist Priscilla Coleman

Mia Farrow, 63

May 2 | Protesting outside Chinese government offices, Hong Kong

As the Olympic torch made its way through the streets of Hong Kong, Farrow lit her own symbolic flame and called on the Chinese government — a Sudan ally — to help end genocide in Darfur. She also criticized Games sponsors for not pressuring Beijing to do its part. "It’s about fear and greed," she said.

Cynthia Nixon, 42

May 12 | Arriving at the world premiere of Sex and the City: The Movie, London

"It was really a Cinderella moment. I’ve never worn a dress that has received so much attention. I was worried about being able to stand up straight enough to look statuesque enough to pull it off, but it seems like everything worked out in the end."

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 40

March 27 | With her husband during a state visit, London

Nuclear power topped President Sarkozy’s U.K.-France summit agenda, but it was Bruni-Sarkozy’s Christian Dior coat that made headlines. Wrote British reporter Emma Johnson: "As far away as New Zealand and America, [Bruni-Sarkozy] was being hailed as the first lady of fashion."

Ingrid Betancourt, 46

July 3 | Reuniting with her daughter, Melanie, and her son, Lorenzo, after being held as a hostage for six years; Bogota, Colombia

"What I’m feeling now is something very close to paradise," she told reporters. "It was because of [my children] that I kept up my will to get out of that jungle. The last time I saw Lorenzo, I could carry him around. I’ve told them they’re going to have to put up with me now, because I’m going to be stuck to them like chewing gum."

Silda Wall Spitzer, 50

March 10 | With her husband, New York governor Eliot Spitzer, as he apologizes for his "private matter" (he announced his resignation two days later), New York

"She should not have been up there, save possibly to publicly spit in his eye," was a typical blog post. Wall Spitzer stayed mum, but when introduced at a fund-raiser in May, she joked with the crowd: "I hope your spring has been less eventful…."